The guy who played Greedo is just as confused by the new scene change as you are

When Disney+ went live on Tuesday, Star Wars fans eagerly rewatched A New Hope and found that yet another change had been made to the infamous “Han shot first” scene, where Han Solo is confronted by Greedo in the cantina. Originally, the scene ends with Han shooting Greedo before Greedo can shoot him. In the 1997 special edition rerelease, George Lucas changed it so Greedo shot first. In 2004, Lucas changed the scene yet again, having Greedo and Han fire simultaneously. And here we go again…

In the version on Disney+, Han and Greedo still shoot each other at the same time, but now Greedo says “Maclunkey” right before the guns start blazing. Watch below:

So what gives this time? Since Disney has owned Stars Wars since 2012, you might the Mouse to have added “Maclunky” for…some reason. But apparently, Lucas himself made the change before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney as part of a planned 3D rerelease of A New Hope that never happened.

That still doesn’t explain why Greedo says “Maclunkey” now, though. If you’re confused, you’re in good company. The guy who played Greedo way back when — Paul Blake — is just as flummoxed. Speaking to Empire, Blake confirms that “Maclunkey” wasn’t in the original script.

"No, it certainly wasn’t in the dialogue. I mean, Larry [Ward] did the little bits and pieces later on, none of the voice stuff was done at Elstree. Some of my own words were used, I believe, which were scrambled electronically."

Larry Ward was the voice actor for Greedo. “My little bit in English was just a simple, straightforward cowboy scene,” Blake remembered.

"‘Going somewhere? Give me the money. If you don’t give me the money, I’ll shoot you. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.’ That’s about it, as far as I can remember. I certainly don’t remember the word ‘Maclunkey’. Are you sure that’s not the noise he made when his very brittle green head hit the table? Or he was saying ‘ouch’ in Rodian just before he fired?"

So there you have it. Disney didn’t make the change, George Lucas did, and now we have a new word added to the Star Wars lexicon.

You’re welcome.

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h/t Gizmodo